1. Field
Example embodiments relate to an optical shutter having a short switching time and/or a three-dimensional (3D) image acquisition apparatus including the optical shutter.
2. Description of the Related Art
An optical shutter capable of controlling transmission of incident light is widely used in various areas such as a display or a camera.
Recently, the importance of three-dimensional (3D) content has been highlighted along with the development of 3D display devices, and an increased demand for 3D display devices, and accordingly, 3D cameras, also draws a lot of attention. A 3D camera typically measures two-dimensional (2D) red-green-blue (RGB) image information and 3D image information. A typical method of measuring the 3D image information is roughly classified into a stereo method and a depth measuring method. The stereo method measures a left-eye image and a right-eye image and depths of the left-eye image and the right-eye image are processed by the brain of a person. The depth measuring method is directly measuring 3D distance information by using, for example, triangulation or time-of-flight (TOF).
A typical structure for measuring the 3D image information by using the depth measuring method may be a two-lens-two-sensor structure, a one-lens-two-sensor structure, or a one-lens-one-sensor structure. The one-lens-one-sensor structure using one lens and one sensor has advantages in volume and price compared to other structures. In this case, since an image sensor needs to receive visible light and infrared rays by time multiplexing, an optical shutter capable of quickly turning on/off light in a desired wavelength band.